Colliers forecasts further decline in Egyptian tourism

Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurgada are expected to experience continued decline in foreign tourist occupancy, according to Colliers International report

The tourism boost of the affected Egyptian destinations depends on the re-initiating of the Russian and British flights in the area, as the Russian plane crash on 31 October 2015 severely affected international travel influx for both Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurgada.

“The flight ban, which took place after the crash, notably impacts the demand. The number of tourists from Russia and Eastern Europe has significantly decreased,” stated the report. Russia and UK suspended their flights here starting last year's November.

According to the report, tourist occupancy for Sharm El-Sheikh, which accounts for half of total hotel capacity in Egypt, will decrease by 22 per cent until February 2016. At the same time, the demand for Hurgada will further experience a 25 per cent decline.

Colliers forecasts that Alexandria and Cairo will be the Egyptian destinations with the highest foreign tourist occupancy rate, whilst Aswan will welcome the lowest number of visitors. Tourist occupancy rate is expected to increase by 30 per cent, due to Spanish, Portuguese, British and Japanese tourists flow.

Starting January, Egyptian authorities will mostly rely on domestic tourism to occupy hotel rooms in the area. Domestic tourism is expected to increase by 75 per cent during the spring break holiday.